Beginning the merger

Planning a life together is a bit like planning a merger, except it's romantic. Mergers are not. But I like the word merge; it's a good word and useful at a time like this.  We're preparing to meld two lives into one, stronger, better, more joyful, more God-honoring, powerful for the kingdom life! It's exciting! 

We got our first glimpse of life together when Isaac built a bookshelf for us.  I know that probably doesn't sound romantic to most of you, especially if you aren't bibliophiles, but let me tell you: it was, in fact, so romantic it brought tears to my eyes!  This was the first tangible expression of our future lives together: our books (not mine, not Isaac's, but our) sat there together, intermingled on crisp white shelves in our study.  

This may not seem groundbreaking to some of you, but if you, like we, have lived on your own for several years, have always loved books, have grown possessive and attached to said books, and only selectively loan them out, you can probably relate.  It's difficult to see now, at a glance, which books were mine and which were his.  We both gained by combining instead of hoarding, and we both recognize we must put to death the "my" mentality in our lives.  

Pretty profound considering it all comes down to painted pine and printed pages.